Comments on: I Get Startled At Timeshttps://www.deanwesleysmith.com/i-get-startled-at-times/
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 09:10:34 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.9By: dwsmithhttps://www.deanwesleysmith.com/i-get-startled-at-times/comment-page-1/#comment-175505
Tue, 27 Jun 2017 05:05:23 +0000https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=23028#comment-175505Jo, yup, been watching those folks come and go for years now. It’s the old get-rich-quick desire that young writers have, looking for shortcuts. You are right, it never does anything for them and few survive it because they are always looking for the next thing instead of learning how to be better storytellers and writing more.

Thanks.

]]>By: Johttps://www.deanwesleysmith.com/i-get-startled-at-times/comment-page-1/#comment-175502
Tue, 27 Jun 2017 00:18:49 +0000https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=23028#comment-175502Dean I wanted to point out that there’s a scam out there using book bundles to hit best seller charts. Authors pay to be part of the bundle, sometimes thousands. Then they market the hell out of it and give away gift cards to people who buy it (a round about way of buying their own book). So the members of the bundle can call themselves a USA Today or NYT Bestseller.

Getting the bestseller status but without the readers, the money or the career the title implies. It’s a very empty thing but you know how people can be, validation is a strong motivator. The ability to tell people you had a bestseller can really help if your family and friends crap on your writing endeavors.

I wasn’t sure if you knew about this scam or not. Many think it’s not a scam, but a smart way to boost a career. I have yet to see anyone boost their career though, just a lot of people having their dreams leveraged to the tune of thousands.

]]>By: dwsmithhttps://www.deanwesleysmith.com/i-get-startled-at-times/comment-page-1/#comment-175500
Sun, 25 Jun 2017 20:03:23 +0000https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=23028#comment-175500Well said, Michael. The key is to write what you love and work like crazy to keep learning every bit of craft you can. Then it slowly fires up over time.
]]>By: Michael J Lawrencehttps://www.deanwesleysmith.com/i-get-startled-at-times/comment-page-1/#comment-175498
Sun, 25 Jun 2017 14:55:11 +0000https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=23028#comment-175498I’ve read works by three other indie authors – people who are self-published, non-famous and new on the scene. (Works first published in the past few years.) I finished and enjoyed two, didn’t finish the third. But I paid for each book. And I am very difficult to sell to as a reader. I am a new author’s worst nightmare.

I have also downloaded a few free books and a bundle. Haven’t touched them. Some of them are from indie authors who have a real following and lots of stars on their books. One is even from a well-known Amazon imprint author. Still, not interested in reading them. I honestly don’t know why, considering I am a cheapskate reader who scours the bargain bin. Not only am I not interested in reading the books, I have no idea who wrote them and don’t really care. (What a horrid thing to say about my fellow indie authors!)

Once I understood my own disinterest in free books, I realized it is not a good discovery tool for new authors. The only thing I can think of where it might be cool is as a gift to readers who are already part of a writer’s audience – people who have already spent money to read their work. But as a discovery tool – no. And I’ve done free runs. They didn’t help.

If you can’t sell a book, you probably can’t give it away either. Finding an audience for our work is difficult and many of us may never find one. I imagine many of us who read Dean’s site are in the same boat, with books published and a miserably inactive dashboard while we scratch our heads and wonder how those “other writers” get reviews and get their books into the five digit rankings. I haven’t found an audience because of my writing or my covers or my blurbs or some other facet I don’t yet understand. I haven’t won the trust of readers. Free doesn’t fix any of that. There are no shortcuts.

]]>By: Will Overbyhttps://www.deanwesleysmith.com/i-get-startled-at-times/comment-page-1/#comment-175482
Fri, 23 Jun 2017 02:13:37 +0000https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=23028#comment-175482I was in my first bundle this past spring. Excellent way to reach readers and make new writing connections. #teambundlerabbit
]]>By: Chong Gohttps://www.deanwesleysmith.com/i-get-startled-at-times/comment-page-1/#comment-175481
Fri, 23 Jun 2017 02:10:25 +0000https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=23028#comment-175481It’s just painful when I find a good book that’s free, and it turns out the author doesn’t have any other published books.
]]>By: Harveyhttps://www.deanwesleysmith.com/i-get-startled-at-times/comment-page-1/#comment-175478
Thu, 22 Jun 2017 17:02:09 +0000https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=23028#comment-175478“…grow some belief in your own work…”